Monthly Archives: June 2014

June 20, 2014 · 9:11 am

Why Cook?

Foodie Friday (finally) and this week’s food screed is about cooking. I’m always surprised that many people – younger people in particular – can’t cook.

Cooking Knifes

(Photo credit: nickwheeleroz)

Oh sure, they can heat up something in the microwave and say they’ve “cooked” supper, but since food is one of life’s necessities, one would think that everyone would take the time to learn to prepare it.  There are some basic business points in my thinking as well (you knew THAT was coming…).

I can hear the naysayers among you: “Cooking takes time and I don’t have any.”  Not true.  Once you’ve learned a few basic skills, you can have really good dishes on the table in under 30 minutes.  That’s not longer than it takes to heat a frozen meal up in the oven and while the microwave might cut that time down, there is no comparison to the quality (plus you’ll generally have some leftover for the next day).

Other reasons to learn to cook:  you know what you’re eating.  I guarantee you can pronounce the names of everything you put in a dish – read a frozen food package and see if you can say the same.  The ingredients are healthier too.  Ordering in?  Besides being more expensive than doing it yourself (even factoring in the cost of your time), you have no clue how much salt or fat was used, no clue if everything was as scrupulously clean as you would make it, and no idea if the food will arrive hot (ever had a pizza arrive with a steamed crust – yuck).  Finally, cooking is fun.  OK, maybe not so much when it doesn’t go well, but for me it’s almost a form of meditation.  It takes you away from the rest of your world and forces your focus elsewhere.  So why this rant on why you should learn to cook?

Like the non-cooks, many businesses haven’t learned some of the basic skills they need, thinking they can outsource them or buy an off-the shelf solution.  In some cases it makes sense – it’s like going out to eat every so often.But take, as an example, a web business that outsources all of its coding and design.  That firm is at the mercy of the developer. They can’t “cook” for themselves.  Obviously I’m a “dine out”solution for my clients so you know I’m a fan of looking outside for some tasks.  But mission-critical skills – which will vary by business – should be acquired and available, just like cooking.

Your take?

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June 19, 2014 · 10:30 am

Decision making

How do you make decisions?  We make many of them every day.  Some are as simple as what to wear or what to have for supper; others involve far more complex thinking and input from many sources.  The folks over at The Economist Intelligence Unit released a study on decision-making and I thought you might find some of what they discovered of interest.  You can read the entire thing here – it’s a 15 page document.

Let’s start with the conclusion:

Data are a highly prized commodity when it comes to making decisions. As The Economist Intelligence Unit’s survey shows, more senior managers consider themselves to be “data-driven” decision-makers than any other available option. And when asked what would improve decision-making, most choose “better ability to analyze data”…Intuition is also valued highly, even among decision-makers who consider themselves data-driven. Evidently both intuition and analysis contribute to effective decision-making, in business as in life. Rather than a weakness that must be avoided, intuition should instead be seen as a skill that is appropriate in the right circumstances.

I find that fascinating since many of the folks with whom I’ve worked over the years have gone out of their way to avoid “I think” in favor of “the data shows.”  There is a term in aviation – spatial disorientation – that refers to when a pilot’s perception of direction does not agree with reality.  They must use the aircraft’s instruments or risk flying themselves into trouble (as in “the ground”).  That’s an instance where intuition is a really bad idea – you must rely on the data.  The same is true as we fly our businesses.

There are business circumstances where data-driven decisions have to rule.  We as human business people don’t seem to like that:

“When making a decision, if the available data contradicted your gut feeling, what would you do?” By far the most popular response, with 57% of the sample, is “Re-analyze the data”. This is followed by “Collect more data”, chosen by 30%.

Who are you going to believe – me or your lying numbers, to paraphrase the old joke.  Maybe this is the art/science debate.  Parts of marketing should revolve around data (science) and some decisions must be based on your gut – art, in my mind.  While finance may be data-driven, designers need solid intuition.  Sometimes we don’t have the data we need or want.  Sometimes what we have overwhelms us or conflicts with itself.

I think the best outcomes are decisions made by people with vast experience who have seen reams of data over the years and understand when it’s relevant, even if it conflicts with their feelings.  I agree with the conclusion that intuition is a useful skill.  What do you think?

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June 18, 2014 · 9:14 am

Alienation As A Business Model

After a very large sports weekend the trade press is filled with the various reports from the broadcasters about their record-breaking audiences.

no-cable-tv

(Photo credit: hjl)

The World Cup is generating huge viewership on TV as well as online.  The NBA Playoffs had massive audiences.  The Stanley Cup Playoffs did exceptionally well.  While the U.S.Open audience was down a bit there was still massive interest.

It wasn’t just sports either.  There was the usual slew of primetime shows that, in the aggregate, bring together a majority of the population across broadcast and cable networks.  I’ll admit to having watched my fair share of both sports and entertainment (and a little news thrown in).  As I was doing so, a thought came to mind.

All of these content providers (that’s what they are, you know) do their best to attract large audiences.  After all, a big part of their business model is selling the viewers’ eyeballs to advertisers.  Why does it seem, then, that every one of them goes out of their way to alienate the audience with way too much non-program material?

I’ll give you an example.  I tuned in the golf on Father’s Day at noon with my dad and my brother-in-law, also a golf fan.  From noon until around 1:30, we saw very little golf as NBC decided to show us feature after feature and do analysis of what the leaders would do when they teed off 2 hours later.  Even though some big names and popular players were on the course, they didn’t show us how the course was playing, how the greens were breaking, or anything else.  They also showed lots and lot of commercials.

I don’t mean to single NBC out.  Just look at how often something important on the screen is obscured by a promotional overlay, something common to every network these days.  Nielsen did a report which looked at 20 cable channels’ commercial loads in the first quarter of 2013. The results: Some nets don’t even fill 40 minutes of programming time per hour.  Nielsen told Adweek that the average clutter time today is 13:32 on broadcast; 16:59 on cable (so the program time averages barely 43 minutes).  You wonder why Netflix is so popular?

When we promise our customers one experience and then deliver something quite different, we’re in trouble.  I don’t tune in to any show to watch the ads or the promos and I’m sure you don’t either.  Yet those seem to be the focus for the program providers.  You can’t build alienating your customers into your business model.  All of us need to align our interests with those of our customers no matter what the business.   What’s your take on this?

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